Activision’s surprise-hit spinoff of the Spyro franchise is heading back to the holiday pre-season with Skylanders Giants, which will be available on store shelves this October 1st. Aside from eight new “giant” characters that will be joining the Skylander lineup, eight more “LightCore Skylanders” are on the way, each one compatible with the “Portal of Power” transfer device.

New character “Swarm” was introduced yesterday, undoubtedly sending pre-teens and younger kids into a fit about how cool his action figure will look next to all the others.

All snark aside, it looks like Skylanders Giants could be making a lot of money this holiday.

Not only is the sequel doing a full-court press on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS, PC, and mobile devices, but the original 32 Skylander characters are also getting new “Series 2″ action figures.

Plus, Skylanders performed quite well for Activision last year, promoting the developer/publisher to name it their best-selling franchise.

And I can already see it now—tons of kids trying to explain to befuddled parents why they need another “Terrafin” and “Stealth Elf” toy because these new ones come with a higher level cap and a new special power. It’s just like trying to explain that you need both versions of Pokémon Red and Blue because you can’t get a Growlithe in the Blue version or a Vulpix in the Red version.

McKinley Noble has been writing about video games for seven years as a blogger and journalist, with each job adding to his painstakingly alphabetized collection of retro gaming memorabilia. When not cracking jokes about the gaming industry, he's a talking encyclopedia when it comes to mixed martial arts and anything MMA related. Follow him on Twitter: @KenTheGreat1. Meet the rest of the crew.